Phantom Of The Opera: Naruto version
by Rea92
Summary: The title explains it. A fic loosely based on ‘The Phantom Of The Opera’. NarXSakuXSasu and ItachiXSaku one-sided.


I do not own Naruto…sigh. Or the Phantom Of The Opera….sigh. But I do own this story.

"Its Cold!" the blonde boy said as he followed the shadowy figure down the

passageway. "Yeah, well you better get used to it.", the apathetic voice of his guide

muttered. "There's only heating in the performance areas and the main dressing rooms."

"Oh", Naruto said as he felt the walls with his hands; trying to keep his footing.

"Now, these passageways connect all through the Opera house, and even

underneath. There will rarely be any light, so you'll have to memorize how to get to

where you need to go." Naruto felt the walls with his hands while trying to keep the pace

his guide was setting. Then he suddenly halted. "Shield your eyes.", he commanded.

There was suddenly a blinding light that flooded the tunnel and slammed Naruto full in

the face. He cringed against the light, but was soon able to see where he was.

"This is the backstage area. It is especially important that no light be used in the

tunnels leading to the stage. The 'hand of god' could ruin the atmosphere of any

performance, and inevitably get you thrown back into the work house." Naruto

shuddered at that. He had finally escaped that hell, and would _not _let himself be put

back.

"Uh…Mr…" "Call me Kakashi", his silver haired guide said with what Naruto

could only guess was a smile. The bottom part of his face was completely covered with a

mask. "Mr. Kakashi, exactly what is it that I'll be doing?"

"Oh, a little bit of everything." Tonight you'll be helping the dancers with their

props." He turned to leave, but Naruto caught his arm. "Wait!", he said. Something had

been tugging at his curiosity from the moment Mr. Kakashi had arrived at the work

house.

The silver haired young man stopped. "What's with the mask?" Naruto blurted.

The young man leaned down to Naruto's height curiously. "What do you think it's for?"

"Herpes!", the young boy yelled a bit louder than he had intended. Some nearby dancers

roared with laughter as the top half of Kakashi's face turned bright red. "I've seen them

on people before. They break out around the mouth, and chin, and the-", The silver

haired guide quickly covered the boys mouth. He turned to the laughing dancers and

laughed. "Kids", he said. "They say such strange things…he he he."

"Get those ropes tied off kid!", the young man who said his name was Iruka

yelled. "Yes sir!", Naruto yelled back as he secured the legs. He wiped his forehead.

This was hard work, but not nearly as hard as the jobs he did at the workhouse. "Good

job kid.", Iruka said. "I think we'll call it a day. Why don't you go down to the dorms

and get cleaned up for dinner." "Yes Sir!", the sunny haired boy replied enthusiastically.

_Now which way was it to the dorms? _Naruto thought to himself. He had reached

the fork that Kakashi had taken him to the night before, but he couldn't remember if he

had taken the left or the right one. _I'll just try the right, and double back if I'm wrong. _

He felt his way along the walls carefully. The tunnel began to rapidly incline, and a

small sliver of light was visible at the end of the tunnel. Naruto sped up. This had

happened when Kakashi had led him to the dorms the night before. He was running at

full speed now, and tripped twice over his own feet. Panting for air he reached the heavy

door and pushed it open with one shoulder. Once again blinded he was blinded by light,

but quickly adjusted.

The room was empty, but something didn't seem quite right. The carpet was a

different color, and there were different chairs around the tiny fire place. And then from

behind the door across the room he heard a voice. A girl's voice! He was in the

women's dorms! "There's no such thing Sakura." The door knob was turning. Naruto

looked around desperately for a place to hide. He spotted a large oak chest and squished

himself inside.

"But what about the notes, and the accidents?" "The accidents are just _accidents, _

and the notes are just pranks." "But Ino What about the deaths?" There was a silence,

and Naruto realized that he had been holding his breath. He exhaled slowly. "Working

in the rafters of an Opera House is dangerous work. Mr. Jenet just fell." "With a noose

around his neck?", came the first girl's, Sakura's, voice. "With a _rope_ around his neck.

He was probably draping ropes all over his body, and carrying them to their places when

he tripped.", The second girl, Ino, responded. "Maybe, but it still gives me chills. When

I'm walking alone I can sometimes feel eyes on me." "Its just your imagination….or

peepers.", she said slyly. "Did you hear about the peeper Tsunade found yesterday?"

"Oh, was that who was on that stretcher? There was so much blood!"

Naruto stiffened. If the girls had waked in on him earlier it would have been

much easier to explain that he was lost, but if they found him hiding in a trunk…."Let's

go down to dinner.", Ino said after a while. After the he heard the door close he pulled

himself out of the trunk and out into the tunnels. He made it to the boy's dormitories

with enough time to wash his face and hands, and then ran through the tunnels to the

dinning hall. The entire time he was alone he could feel a pair of eyes burning into the

back of his head. What Ino and Sakura had been talking about had made him paranoid.

By the time he had found a plate of food, however, he had pushed it from his mind.

It had been one month since Naruto had come to live at the Opera House. Today

he was working in the stables with a lazy boy named Shikamaru. He wasn't very

enthusiastic about his work, but he always did his share. They finished cleaning and

grooming the horses, and Shikamaru decided to take a nap in a pile of hay in one corner.

Naruto was giving some serious thought to joining him when the pink haired girl named

Sakura walked in. "Lady Tsunade wants me to run her errands this morning so I need a

horse."

Naruto hopped off of the trough he had been sitting on. "Why do you need a

horse to get supplies? We're in the middle of the city." "The things she wants are in the

next town over." Sakura said in annoyance. For some reason Naruto always seemed to

annoy her. He really couldn't figure it out. She showed him the lengthy list.

"You won't be able to carry all of this back on one horse, I better go with you."

She stared at him for a minute. "Fine.", she said. "The Akatsuki have been abducting

people in this area lately. So I'd rather not go alone anyway." "Oh…right."

Naruto saddled up two horses and led them out of the stables. Sakura climbed

into her saddle with all the grace that a dancer possessed, and began to adjust the reins.

Naruto nervously approached his mare. The truth was, he had only been in a saddle

maybe twice in his life. He had just wanted the chance to get on Sakura's good side.

Luckily she was facing away from him when he crawled into his saddle, and nearly fell

out.

They rode at a slow trot down the street. He wondered if the people on the streets

would think that they were lovers. Probably not. She rode a little ways in front of him

with a look that said she was all business. Not to mention that he was dressed in a dirty

white smock and loose black pants tucked into old boots. She was wearing a clean white

blouse, and deep blue skirts that accented her light pink hair. He looked like her servant,

he determined.

She turned and caught him staring at her. "You've never ridden a horse.", she

said bringing her horse even with his. "No.", he confessed pulling his arms behind his

head. "You can't just sit in the saddle. You have to move with the horse while squeezing

the saddle with your knees." She instructed him as they rode, and by the time they had

reached the town of Summerset he was getting the hang of it.

They made several stops at dress shops to pick up Lady Tsunade's orders, and

even bought several bottles of liquor from a man in an alley. After Naruto had strapped

everything to the back of their horses; Sakura decided that Lady Tsunade was buying

them dinner. "I'd really like go to a nice restaurant to pay her back for making me do all

of her errands.", she said sheepishly. "But we need to eat somewhere where we can

watch the horses. Oh, I know! Ramen!"

"Do you like ramen?", she asked him. "I'm not sure, I've never had it.", he said a

little embarrassed. They tied their horses in front of a ramen stand and sat down at some

stools. Sakura ordered them both miso pork flavored. It was easily the best thing that he

had ever tasted. He was so enthusiastic that he at three bowls. Sakura had two.

As they rode home she began to talk enthusiastically about the Opera's season.

"We're starting 'La Dame Blanche' on next week on the 15th. It has lovely vocal pieces."

Something suddenly occurred to Naruto. "Sakura, what's today?" "October 10th, why.",

she asked seeing the look on his face. He began to laugh. "What's so funny?", she asked

getting annoyed. "Its just that I've been 14 for almost a full day without realizing it."

"You forgot your own birthday?", she asked incredulously. She turned her horse

around. "Come on. I want to get something." "But its almost dark, already. Won't you

get in trouble with Lady Tsunade?", he called after her, but she was too far away. He

caught up with her, and followed her though the tangle of shops and shoppers. He

watched the horses as she pursued the small shops. By the time they were back on the

main road it was fully dark out. "Here", she said holding out her hand. Naruto examined

the small object she had dropped into his hand in the moonlight. It was a small clear

crystal with two smaller stones strung on a leather cord. "I thought it would make a nice

good luck charm.", she said happily.

"T-Thank You Sakura." He had never been given a birthday present before…or

any kind of gift for that matter. He tied it around his neck and tucked it under his shirt.

"Really I—", but he was cut off as something crashed into him knocking him from his

horse. He heard Sakura scream from her mount. And tried to scramble to his feet but

was met with a sharp blow to the back of his head. His eyes flashed as he crashed to the

ground, and was pulled into unconsciousness.

Thank you for reading! Please tell me what you think. No Flames Please! They burn….


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